TWO MORE COME ON BOARD: Red Bulls II ink defenders Lombard, Abidor

HARRISON, N.J. – Red Bulls II signed defenders Andrew Lombard and David Abidor, the club announced Tuesday.

“I’ve known Andrew since he was with our U-13 team back in the academy and I take special privilege in him being able to begin his professional career with us,” head coach John Wolyniec said in a statement. “I’m real excited to see how far Andrew can take his talents with the group. It’s great to see him move on from our academy to Red Bulls II.”

Lombard, a native of Montclair, N.J., played college soccer for both Ohio State University and Northeastern University, making 13 appearances in each of his freshman and sophomore seasons.

He played for Red Bulls Academy of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy under head coach Paul O’Donnell, helping his team to an 18-4 record and a No. 4 national ranking. He was also invited to the U.S. Under-18 National Identification Camp in 2014 and most recently joined the U.S. U-20 National Team camp this past August.

“We’re excited to have David with the team,” Wolyniec said. “We got to watch a lot of him last year with Tulsa and we like David as an individual and as a player. He is going to fit right in really well here. He’s a hard worker, an intelligent player, and a guy that can help us defensively and maybe even in the midfield as well.”

Abidor joined the Tulsa Roughnecks for their second USL campaign last season, playing in 29 games, after beginning his professional career in 2015 with Dalkurd in Sweden. In the spring of 2015, the Northbrook, Illinois native spent time in training camp with both the Roughnecks of USL and Real Salt Lake before heading to Sweden.

The 6-1 defender played collegiately for Dayton and Creighton Universities. His first three seasons were spent with the Flyers where he made 51 appearances and was named their rookie of the year following his freshman season.

He joined Creighton prior to his 2014 senior season, making 20 appearances. He helped the Bluejays to one of their most memorable years as they won their first-ever Big East regular season title in his lone season in Omaha. They finished with a No. 9 national ranking and advanced to the quarterfinals of NCAA Division I Tournament.

About The Author

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered eight World Cups, seven Olympics and all 21 MLS Cups. He writes about New York City FC, New York Cosmos and the U.S. national team for Newsday and pens a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has two more in the works, including one about the Rochester Lancers.